Archive for the ‘Florida foreclosures’ Category

Friday Round-Up — Settlement Docs Weeks Away, Donovan Hopes Fannie and Freddie Come Around; Citi-Bank Settles Suit; Bank Approves Loan Modification, Then Forecloses

Friday, February 17th, 2012

AGs Weeks From Filing Foreclosure Settlement Documents

Yesterday we expressed concern because we have yet to see the formal documents behind last week’s landmark $25 billion settlement, and it seems few people actually have.

HousingWire reports, through an unnamed source, that federal prosecutors plan to file them in court by the end of the month.

But of course herein lies the problem: We’ve heard how much money each individual state is getting, Florida alone is set to receive about $8.4 billion alone, but until the documents are filed, but until all I’s are dotted and all T’s crossed, those numbers are always subject to change!

While Rich Andreano, a banking lawyer quoted in the article says he doesn’t expect any drastic changes to the numbers, we still need to see them for ourselves!

And will we really see these documents filed this month? How many deadlines associated with the settlement have come and gone without a hint of activity?

Will we see any additional surprises, like additional immunity for the banks? Let’s hope not.

Shaun Donovan, HUD Chief, Hopes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Will Write Down Mortgages

The problem with this headline is glaring. Donovan HOPES Fannie and Freddie will write down mortgages. Not he demands, not he insists, he hopes. Well I hope for world peace, doesn’t mean it will happen now does it?

Donovan told the Huffington Post that he thinks the people behind the two GSE’s will finally come on board the principal reduction train once they see the effects from last week’s settlement on the housing market. Donovan called their reluctance to engage in principal reduction, “quasi-religious”, which is the problem in a nutshell.
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Eric Schneiderman: This Millennium’s Elliot Ness?

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman

We here at the South Florida Law Blog decided to clock in a few hours this weekend, because if we didn’t we’d probably fall behind President Obama’s new man-in-the trenches Eric Schneiderman.

The New York Attorney General, only days into his appointment as the head of the newly-formed Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group has already issued subpoenas to 11 financial companies.

President Obama only announced this new investigative unit during Tuesday’s State of the Union, yet the “check”, or in this case the subpoena, is already in the mail.

If you were skeptical that Obama was still interested in the status-quo when it comes to the banks and doing business, may we present Exhibit A.

Eric Schneiderman is turning himself into a modern-day Elliot Ness.

You remember Ness don’t you?

The federal agent whose team of “Untouchables” couldn’t be bought off and helped bring down Al Capone?

Schneiderman too has the era of a man who will not be co-opted. If anyone can stay above the fray and not be reeled in by the banks and their money, he can.

Investigation Going After Cause of Housing Crisis

Schneiderman has stood up to the President before, openly opposing the settlement agreement that we here at the South Florida Law Blog have railed against. And now he is Obama’s point man for placing blame and creating accountability for causing the worst economic crisis in the US since the Depression.

Elliot Ness

The Huffington Post is reporting that outside of claims directly relating to robo-signing fiasco, the banks will not be released from the threat of prosecution for the vast majority of securities-related crimes.
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Will Obama Target Housing Crisis During State Of The Union?

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the economy at Shaker Heights High School,Shaker Heights, Ohio, Jan. 4, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

We really haven’t seen President Obama insert himself directly into the housing crisis, but there are rumblings that he may do just that during Tuesday’s State of The Union address.

The fact is that is what homeowners have been clamoring for. A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll found 58% of Americans want the government to do more to help people keep homes.

According to HousingWire, Ohio senator Sherrod Brown told reporters today that there was evidence that Obama would address the robo-signing case which involves several major banks. A North Carolina congressman even said there were rumours that Obama would announce a settlement, something HUD secretary Shaun Donovan suggested last week was ‘very close’, as we mentioned in our Week In Review on Friday.

For the record, Obama’s press secretary refused to confirm any details, saying only that the President was “focused on the issue of housing”.

Between Dononvan’s comments and the recent white paper sent out by the Federal Reserve, it seems that more and more top government officials are finally realizing how important the housing market is to our economic recovery, not to mention their own political survival.

This is not news to us here at the South Florida Law Blog.

In the Huffington Post last September, Roy Oppenheim called housing the “thousand pound gorilla in the room” in the 2012 election, as many of the states with the highest underwater mortgages, such asFlorida, are also key electoral swing states. The pressure on Obama to be more aggressive on the banks is growing in Washington, and it’s about time.
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Foreclosure Crisis: Will Government Right This Sinking Ship?

Monday, January 16th, 2012

Photo Courtesy:Reuters

We’ve all been reading with horror about the developing situation in Italy with the Costa Concordia, the cruise ship that capsized last Friday, killing several people.

What really caught our attention is the actions of the ship’s captain Francesco Schettino, who reportedly abandoned ship in the middle of the evacuations. He’s been blamed for causing the tragedy by recklessly taking the ship off-course and too close to shore

We can not compare the loss of life with the foreclosure crisis, but an argument can certainly be made that there is a parallel between the captain’s actions and that of big banks.

Banks have also been reckless, taking the economy from its intended destination and showing a complete lack of disregard with their shady real estate and foreclosure practices. We believe they have abandoned the homeowner and the taxpayer, while failing to consider their well-being and solely worrying about their own self-preservation.

Whereas the cruise line’s executives have quickly held the captain accountable, we’ve yet to see our federal government do the same to the banks, despite countless opportunities to do so.

In this excellent editorial published in the New York Times, the paper calls on President Obama to steer this ship back on course by forming an inter-agency task force to investigate the banks for their actions, many of which could be considered criminal.

Yes there’s been investigations and settlements, but there’s been very little accountability for the top executives, who’ve been rarely held personally responsible. For example Angelo Mozilo, the former chief executive of Countrywide, didn’t have to admit to any wrongdoing when he settled civil fraud charged level by the SEC. Yes he had to pay a 67.5 million dollar fine, but that’s a fraction of the 521.5 million he’s reported to have received between 2000 and 2008, according to the NY Times.
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